One of the most beloved Chinese recipes in America, cashew chicken classically consists of dark meat chicken, sugar snap peas, carrots, and cashews in a light, silky sauce that barely clings to the chicken and that’s fragrant with ginger. Sadly, cashew chicken found stateside is often nothing at all like it was intended to be, consisting rather of greasy, deep-fried chicken in a goopy gravy. This simple stir-fry takes you squarely back to tradition.–Renee Schettler Rossi
Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch (12 mm) cubes
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce , (for a richer tasting sauce, use dark soy sauce in place of regular soy sauce; for gluten-free, use tamari)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup homemade chicken stock or canned chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil, (use only oils with a high smoke point, such as grapeseed)
- 2 tablespoons minced ginger
- 1/2 cup sugar snap peas, strings removed, pods left whole
- 1/2 cup carrots sliced 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick
- 1/2 cup celery sliced 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick
- 1/2 cup unsalted cashews, (if using raw cashews, toast them in a dry skillet for a minute or two prior to tossing them into the stir-fry)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, garlic, 1 teaspoon of the soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of the rice wine, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and sugar. Stir to combine.
- In a small bowl combine the broth, the remaining 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice wine, and 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch.
- Heat a 14-inch (36 cm) flat-bottomed wok or a 12-inch (30 cm) skillet over high heat until a bead of water added vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of the oil, tilting the wok to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Add the ginger and, using a metal spatula, stir-fry until the ginger is fragrant, about 10 seconds.
- Push the ginger to the sides of the wok, carefully add the chicken mixture, and spread it evenly in a single layer. Cook the chicken, undisturbed, for 1 minute. Then stir-fry until the chicken is lightly browned but not quite cooked through, about 1 minute more.
- Swirl the remaining 1 tablespoon oil into the wok, add the sugar snaps, carrots, celery, and cashews, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir-fry just until the sugar snaps are bright green, about 1 minute. Restir the broth mixture and swirl it into the wok, adding it along the sides rather than into the middle. Stir-fry until the chicken is just cooked through, about 1 minute.
- Serve the cashew chicken immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Wonderful and easy. This recipe only has a handful of ingredients, prep time is next to nothing, and the outcome is fabulous. I actually made it twice, once using chicken thighs per the recipe and the other using chicken breast. Both versions were terrific.
For variety, you can add ingredients to your liking; I personally would’ve wanted a little tofu. Either way, I think it’s a winner. It’s light and healthy yet packed with flavor. Definitely a must-try!
In its simplicity, this recipe is full of greatness. You can just tell you’re doing something good for your body and soul as you cook and eat it.
I substituted vegetable stock for the chicken (I had run out of homemade chicken stock) and I used gluten-free soy sauce as I must now eat gluten-free. These two changes account for subtle differences in the flavor profile, but nothing too dramatic. The recipe delivers what it intends to by creating a fast stir-fry with a light sauce. (It’s so quick, it’s almost embarrassing.) It makes me want to try other recipes in Young’s book.
A weeknight-winner for sure. This cashew chicken was simple and light and the flavors of both the ginger and garlic come through.
I used regular soy sauce, although for more punch next time, I’ll try it with the dark soy sauce that’s recommended in the headnote.
It cooks up very fast, so make sure you have all of your ingredients ready to go, and that the rice is warm in the rice cooker when you start to stir-fry.
This recipe tastes great, and can be adapted to suit individual tastes. The flavors were well-balanced and the silky sauce was understated. The vegetables had a cooked but crunchy texture. I love ginger, and next time I’ll sneak more in for myself. That’s the beauty of this template recipe: Make it as specified, and the next time, you’ll know just what to change for your specific tastes.
I used a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet and watched the author’s recommended water-droplet dance evaporate in a second. I had success following the timing precisely, and I let the sugar snap peas cook about 2 minutes to turn a bright green. I also had minor grease-splattering, but not much, because of the minimal oil required. To reduce cleanup, you can place sheets of aluminum foil on the stove top and the counter next to the pan.
All of your prep work has to be done before anything goes into that scorching-hot metal pan or else it’s burn, baby, burn. (I’ll admit that I get lazy at times with some recipes. I’ll chop vegetables after I’ve started cooking and measure out ingredients à la minute. But not with an unforgiving, high-heat stir-fry.) This recipe put some discipline back into my mise en place.
The weather was horrible and I didn’t feel like going food shopping, so this dish was just what I needed to prepare with ingredients on hand. Since I had 1-3/4 lbs boneless chicken thighs in the freezer and a cup of raw cashews in the pantry, I doubled the recipe (just two of us) and used a richly flavored mushroom soy sauce. Only other changes were to leave out the celery, using red bell pepper instead, adding a wee bit of heat with a tsp of Thai chili paste, and using Sake because that’s my go-to instead of Chinese rice wine. Once mise en place was set up, this took moments to go from wok to table, and needed only some jasmine rice to round out the plate. Of course there were leftovers – just like with Chinese take-out. Will make again.
Superb, Roni! So glad you liked it on a cold winter’s day.